REPORT: 1874 3 Daisy Hill 0

1874 NORTHWICH scored twice inside the opening quarter of an hour when recording a routine win against struggling Daisy Hill.

It means Ian Street’s men close the gap to a promotion position to four points, completing with it a double in Division One against opponents without a victory since September.

This time, they did not need a late goal to settle the outcome.

Mike Brandon reacted swiftly when a defender failed to cut out a pass sent in his direction in the fourth minute, the front man shooting too powerfully for goalkeeper Jakub Oleksy to take his season’s tally to 27.

Stuart Wellstead and Matty Ward both sent attempts close to the target before Daley Woods doubled the hosts’ advantage on 13 minutes, looping a header out of Oleksy’s reach from Lee Jones’ cross.

Greg Travers dragged an effort across goal at the other end, but Northwich continued to look more likely scorers when Ward – twice – fired shots towards goal and Wellstead struck an upright.

In the second period, Lee Duckworth’s drive was diverted to safety by a defender while Oleksy was equal to attempts by Ward and Matthew Woolley.